States, canada, and all around the world. Im Kim Brunhuber. This is Cnn Newsroom, Israel And Hezbollah exchange more strikes after israel says it targeted Hezbollahs Leader in the lebanese capital of beirut, the latest on rising tension hes in the region. Kamala harris visits the border and outlines her immigration policy, how the democratic president ial nominee is trying to make gains on Donald Trump and whats left of. Hurricane helene is still causing problems for parts of the Southeastern Us level. Look at the wide ranging impacts of the monster storm atlanta. This is Cnn Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber in lebanon and its capital is reeling from the worst round of israeli strikes in nearly 20 years. While some of its residents no longer have a place to call Home Cnn crews at the Scene Say Beirut was pounded continuously overnight and strikes are still underway across eastern and southern lebanon. Were also hearing some hospitals in Southern Beirut will be evacuated. Thats where the idf said that it struck residential buildings. That house has Blow Weapon caches On Friday but their residents no longer have a place to live and they camped out on the sidewalks overnight often with little more than the shirts on their backs some of them say theyre lucky to be alive we have no, yeah, we are here for now. So we dont know maybe he is safe. We dont know we are just here, but but now israel is claiming they have killed the leader and a speech of the un On Friday, israels Prime Minister said, his country is only doing what it has to do Word War with it, cause bala, which has hijacked your country and threatens to destroy ours as long as his bala chooses the path of War Israel has no Choice And Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their home safely. And thats exactly what were doing and another bashir is monitoring those developments since she joins us from london. So not a more israeli strikes and just in israel claiming that they actually have killed his bull as leader. Whats the latest thats why there have been some questions around the status all the Husband Or Leader Hassan Nasrallah, we are just getting this information in right now according to the israeli military, they have claimed that has some muscle was killed in a striker On Friday in beirut in lebanon. Again, this is coming from the israeli military. We have not yet heard from hezbollah as organization. We havent heard from any senior hezbollah leaders on the status of her so unless just yet this is a developing story i would emphasize that we are keeping an eye on any further developments. But if indeed this is confirmed by hezbollah as it has been now by israeli military, this would be a huge, huge development as significant shift the potential ramifications could be had claires mic weve seen of course, senior members of hezbollah over the past few months killed in is really strikes, particularly of course, in southern lebanon, as weve seen, that crossfire between the israeli military along the border with hezbollah. We have seen senior hamas officials also killed back in february. We saw sala, hello, ruby, the political chief of hamas, killed in the suburb of beirut. And this is an area where we have been seeing repeated strikes now, overnight. But again, this would be a huge significant development. All lines would suddenly be on the potential response, not only from hezbollah in lebanon, but also of course from iran backed proxies. And of course, when we run itself of what that response would be. Weve heard from iranian leaders. Weve heard from her arms Foreign Minister as well, saying that israel has already crossed a Red Line in targeting beirut. And of course, there have been warnings that if israel did seek an escalation in the conflict, did at target deeper into lebanon that there would be a fierce response from iraq on and its regional proxies are remains to be seen. What respond to be seen. And again, remains to be seen whether we hear this conformation in the coming hours from hezbollah itself. Yeah, not a staying on that. Im just wondering, clearly, it would be a significant blow for hezbollah. Can you take us through exactly how significant . That might be i mean, can this would be hugely, hugely significant, as i mentioned, we have already seen a number of senior hezbollah commanders and officials killed over the course of the cross via that we have seen between Israel And Hezbollah since October 8 on that border with southern lebanon. And israel, we have seen in senior hamas officials as well killed on lebanese territory, assassinated by targeted strikes carried out by the israeli military. Though in Cases Israel has not confirmed or denied involvement in these targeted assassinations. But again, this would be a huge development, be ramifications the consequences could be very significant in terms of the reaction and the response we see it more broadly in the region, particularly from iran has some a son of course, is the leader of hezbollah, the Secretary General, but he is also a hugely significant and symbolic figure for many in lebanon, for many of course, in the Shia Community more broadly, in the region, of course, in iran as well. He has been a figure over the course of the last year in terms of Hezbollahs Response to the war in gaza, weve been hearing repeatedly from hezbollah officials and namely, of course, from Hassan Nasrallah, that their Military Actions their targeting of Israeli Territory, it has come in direct response to israels attacks on gaza, that this will not come to an end. Until there is a ceasefire in gaza. But again, there have been those Warning Signs and Alarm Bells being sounded around the potential for the war in gaza to escalate to spill over more broadly. In the region. That is what we are seeing now the targeting of lebanon, the targeting of senior officials now at the israeli military claiming to have killed her Hassan Nasrallah. Again, were still waiting to hear from hezbollah on that. Just to really touch on what were seeing on lebanon on the ground as well. What we are seeing i think is the targeting according to the israeli military of hezbollah assets. But these are areas that are densely populated, filled with civilians, particularly overnight. And yesterday we saw the Targeting And Bombing of the dub in Southern Beirut the area which is crammed, filled with apartment blocks were families live. I mean, this is a very busy, very small city and what weve seen overnight is many trying to take shelter on the streets, essentially sleeping on the streets with their children because they fear that they will be targeted. Next, the israeli military has been sending out Evacuation Orders very similar and thats what weve seen in gaza. In fact, telling civilians that they are near what they claim to be hezbollah weapons, Storage Facilities Has hezbollah targets that they need to move and get out to safety for their protection. But these warnings are coming with very little notice. And so its very difficult for civilians to actually get to safety in time in southern lebanon. Of course, what weve seen over the course of the last year is a huge movement of civilians. Many have been forced to flee their homes and evacuate Hundreds Of Thousands. And in fact, weve heard from the lebanese Health Minister speaking to cnn earlier in the week saying that he estimates between 400 to 500,000 lebanese people have been now internally displaced as a result of israels targeting of lebanese territory. And of course its important to remember that this escalation has really come about as a result of israeli action. Of course, weve seen that crossfire between both sides on lebanon southern border. But this is taking things to a whole new level. And what weve been hearing from members of the international community and particularly from the United States, israels closest set our light is that they do not want to see an escalation. Theyve even called for a ceasefire. And so far that has been rejected by the israeli government. This latest development, the apparent reported killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of hezbollah, according to the israeli military will have a significant consequences and we will of course be keeping an eye on the developments that follow. And of course, waiting to hear from hezbollah as well and not in the meantime, we dont want to forget the situation in gaza. What more can you tell us about whats happening there . Yeah, absolutely. I as we continue to focus on whats happening in lebanon, a huge Shift And Development there. We cannot forget that the strikes that have been taking place in gaza over the course of now, almost a year are continuing. We are still seeing civilians being killed. And of course, just as weve been hearing, lebanon were still hearing those evacuation Orders Gaza as well. But the situation has not changed. Weve been hearing from the un weve been hearing from other humanitarian organizations that there simply has nowhere safe left. For civilians in gaza. And that humanitarian situation is also rapidly deteriorating. Still, i have to say Unit Reporting on this for now, almost a year. It does feel as though the situation is only getting worse and worse. We always repeating ourselves on a daily basis really with regards to the humanitarian situation. But that is the reality on the ground. And of course, the fear is despite calls for a ceasefire, we havent seen any developments and he positive developments on securing that ceasefire in gaza. Now were hearing similar calls in lebanon, a call for us station in violence. There. But as calls for a ceasefire, havent been heated in gaza, there are real concerns that they will not be heated in lebanon either. In fact, we heard from the israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the Un General Assembly he gave a similar message, echoing remarks that weve heard in the past with regards to the situation in gaza, saying that israel is and to complete and meet its military objectives. And that is a huge concern given what weve seen in Gaza And Weve been hearing from officials at the Un General Assembly saying they do not want to see pete of the situation in gaza in lebanon. This is of course, a huge point of concern and there is ramping pressure now on israel not to escalate this any further. Yeah, thats right. And the u. S The Binary Ration has been trying to work towards a ceasefire, but again, you point out how there has been no movement in the Ceasefire And Hostage deal for gaza. Similarly with lebanon it shows how, how impotent, i guess the Biden Ministration has been in terms of trying to get a halt to this Widening War yeah, absolutely. We heard yesterday from us secretary said of, state, Antony Blinken giving a statement to members of the press he essentially was peppered with questions with regards to why there hasnt been any progress on securing a ceasefire particularly in lebanon. We know of course of that emphasis has really been put forward by the us calling on israel to secure or agreed to a ceasefire in lebanon. Again, we havent seen any polls was a Tip Movement on calls for a ceasefire in gaza. And there are fears that that could be the case in lebanon as well. Of course, what we have seen as well is the u. S. Continuing to put forward funding for israel . There is a disconnect there and the messaging that we are hearing and of course, what we are seeing in terms of substantial action being taken by the biden administration just on thursday, israeli official said that they secured another 8. 7 billion in Military Aid from the United States cnns, which has pentagon on that. Of course that is a point of concern for many who have called not only for a ceasefire, but of course, for a shift in us Foreign Policy when it comes to support for israel. Weve seen huge protests, of course, in israel itself, many saying that they believe the government in israel has not done enough to secure the release of hostages, to bring an end to the war in gaza. So there is pressure coming on israel from all sides. But as you said, kim, we really havent seen at substantial action being taken in terms of international Community Response to Refit Pressure on israel to agree to the ceasefire agreement. We know that hezbollah has repeatedly said in lebanon their Military Actions targeting Israeli Territory will come to an end when there is a ceasefire in gaza. But at this stage, it feels as though that is a hopeless point at this point all right. I really appreciate all of those insights on a sheer thank you so much. I want to bring in Nic Robertson in Tel Aviv. Nic again, the news just in israel claiming theyve killed Hezbollahs Leader. What more can you tell us . Yeah, this is something that had certainly been circulating and heavily speculated and the length of time that it had taken hezbollah not to be able to give clarity about Hassan Nasrallahs circumstance following that massive targeted strike on the underground complex at the idf said that it was hitting in Central Beirut late yesterday. The speculation had been growing here that the idf had accomplished what it said. Its set out to do. And now of course the idea has said that and its interesting, weve just heard from the Army Chief Staff general Herzi Halevi, and he has said this is not The End of our toolbox. This is a message he says for anyone who would want to continue to strike at israel, the clear implication is that if other members of hezbollah continue to strike at israel, then israel is going to continue tim you to fire back and target at them that will perhaps come as no surprise, but those are the first official words we have had from a senior Military Commander in the ivf the top commander of the army, the Idfs Chief of staff, making it very clear that this is not over that the targeting and now they claimed the killing of Hassan Nasrallah is not The End of their operations in lebanon and that this will continue. And i think the other thing to say from here is that with that speculation overnight and now the confirmation of this news, i think there will be a growing level of concern here in israel about what happens next. What does iran do . What does hezbollah do . Obviously, the idf is trying to prevent more hezbollah strikes into, into israel, but the expectation will be here that as israel struggled on october the seventh to hamass massive and brutal attack, then that it took them some time to find their feet and organize a coordinated response it is going to be similar for hezbollah now, thats what the people of israel are expecting. Thats what they are wondering what precisely what will happen when will it happen . So i think were going to see a level of concern over this weekend. Begin to grow and perhaps late later today at The End of the undershot back today, there will be Government Officials who will come forward and give their assessment of perhaps bring a sense of what they say is going to happen if you will, a level of i wouldnt say theres a level of calm might be the right words, but the situation is not uncommon at the moment, but it is certainly expectant and concerned about what comes next. Yeah. On what comes next. Neck with hezbollahs infrastructure. Both militarily and the leadership going now all the way potentially right to the top, destroyed what are hezbollahs options here in terms of response . Hezbollah has a massive force and what has been targeted has been, its weapons storage, its Command And Control, and its leadership and the ability of its leadership to take big coordinated decisions. So theyre absolutely will still be weapons still in the field with smaller units who are able to act unilaterally and without necessarily needing to hear from commanders. But there will be, of course, weapons that are in Depere Storage that israel, that the idf has not targeted yet. And it will be these weapons that hezbollah will begin to turn to and to, and to figure out how they can best Use It. I think a lot of people here in israel will be reminded that just a couple of weeks ago, hezbollah released video of what purported to be deep tunnels carved into mountains, carved into rock, in which trucks were moving around in which there were heavy ballistic missiles that could be fired from openings in the mountain sides. So people will be aware that structures like this may exist than i talked to officials about these videos and they say theres no reason not to take those videos at Face Value because hezbollah has had many, many, many years to shape and prepare its response to israel should this day arrived. There will, there is within the Idf And Expectation that once hezbollah figures out its Command And Control throw, it will be able to turn to Weapon Systems that have so far been protected. Weapon systems that are designed to be used in this type of scenario from places that its very hard for the idf to hit and target. But without that Command And Control that is the key thing for a coordinated response. And on, on that issue, this is perhaps the area where the idf feels that its done the best job so far depleting the Command And Control weve had the Defense Minister say that has happened. Weve had the Army Chief of staff in the last few days say that the Command And Control, the morale of hezbollah has been hit. But i dont think anyone should be mistaken that hezbollah is broken it is not, it is tens of thousands of fighters with Weapons Stockpiles of ammunition, and longrange, short range, medium range missiles. The question for them will be to figure out how to organize and get a chain of command that can give direction over what comes next. And the anticipation would be that in that process, there would be consultation with iranian officials Hassan Nasrallah has been very, very cautious with hezbollah about not being drawn, not being going who did into a massive allout escalation with israel as israel has escalated strikes over the border into lebanon. And the question will now be, what sort of leader emerges . And are they less Risk Averse . And the principles sponsors who have an absolute vested interest in this, of course oh, iran so that will be likely that they would have a voice in this i think the reality is that the understanding from here at least would be that the leadership at the moment is in such a state of shock. There may be a period of slight paralysis but thats only going to be a slight paralysis for a short period, very likely all right. Appreciate that. So Nic Robertson, thanks so much. I want to bring back Nada Bashir In London. So nauta, i want to build on what nick was just saying there about iran and the wider reaction in the region for iran. I mean, would this represents some sort of Red Line for them . Well, weve already heard from iranian officials describing the targeting of lebanese territory or deeper into lebanese territory, including in beirut, the capital, as crossing a red Line Weve been hearing those warnings from iranian officials for some time now. So of course this will be a significant development. And in fact, weve heard similar messaging in the past from iranian officials following the killing of other most senior hezbollah commanders as well as a senior hamas officials who have been killed. Of course, ismail haniyeh, a seller hallowed odea, who was killed in february in beirut actually so this will be a significant development. Has son us on the, not only the Secretary General of hezbollah, but also a significant symbolic figure for many in lebanon, for many in the Shia Community across the region more broadly, certainly in iran and this will draw reaction in from many in iran who will of course have been supportive of Hassan Nasrallah and hezbollah as an organization. But of course that remains to be seen. Of course, the situation in lebanon is growing more dire. This will, of course perhaps put more pressure on iran to take further action ive seen action taken in the past by irans proxies in the region we have seen direct targeting of Israeli Territory by iran itself but as the situation grows more desperate in lebanon, that has certainly put pressure on iran to take further action was we have seen the bombing of areas that are densely populated with civilians overnight. This is a country that has already been through so, so much in recent years from me collapsing economy that has really pushed many in 11 into the brink of desperation to of course, the Port Blast in 2020. And now this and of course we have seen a huge number of civilians killed already on warnings officials across the globe, particularly international leaders at the Un General Assembly in New York that we cannot allow what we have seen in gaza to be replicated in lebanon. But if something weve heard from israeli military officials in the past saying that what is happening in gaza can be in their words, copy and pasted in beirut, those warnings have been coming in from months prior. And now what we are seeing in beiruts is what the israeli military terms and claims to be a targeted Bombing Campaign, targeting as well, let assets targeting hezbollah officials, weapons, store facilities, et cetera. But again, these are areas that are densely populated, filled with civilians billions and families, just as we have seen in gaza, were hearing those Evacuation Orders once again from the israeli military with little time for civilians to actually get out to safety. And there are fears that this could only be the beginning that we could continue to see this situation spiraling. That was certainly the warning from lebanons Foreign Minister, who was called on the international community to take action to intervene, to prevent the situation in lebanon from spiraling Out Of Control, not only the situation lebanon, but more broadly in the region as well. Of course, important to underscore that the situation in lebanon is deeply connected to irans proxies more broadly in the region. And there will be a response from those proxies at targeting israel, as you heard from Nic Robertson, just that may be some heightened concern in israel around that as well. But again, this will be a significant shift was significant consequences, certainly all right, so appreciate that. So Nada Bashir In London want to go now to fawaz gerges, professor of International Relations at the London School of economics, sir, thank you so much for being here with us so again, the news just in israel claiming that theyve killed Hezbollahs Leader we have no words, no confirmation of that yet, as i understand. But if indeed he is dead, i mean, what kind of blow would that be for hezbollah . Well significant blow. Hezbollah. I mean, nasrallah, the leader of hezbollah, is the Beating Heart of the organization hes on iconic figure his followers, his supporters millions of his followers think of him in terms of heads really a, the warship is his charisma, his personality but what we need to understand is that nasrallah is not only am iconic figure in lebanon he is an iconic figure, a, the glue that connects the Axis Of Resistance throughout the region so really nasrallah is much bigger than hezbollah in fact, he is as big as the supreme leader, ali khamenei, for the Axis Of Resistance, whether you talking about yemen or iraq, or syria. And even many iranians look at them as basically the glue that basically connects the various groups that support israel. If nasrallah has been killed as the israeli army claims, we still have not heard a word from hezbollah. We have to wait and see i think this will be a major blow, but having said so i think it would be extremely misleading to ride the obituary of Hezbollah Hezbollah is deeply embedded in the social, political, and institutional structure of lebanon. Has Israel And Hezbollah is much bigger than one leader even including nasrallah fitly institutionalized, deeply institutionalized, you have scores of leaders who could basically replace nasrallah, even though they wont have the charisma and the iconic figure. So this is not The End of hezbollah. Even though its a shattering blow because nasrallah has been at the helm of hasmallah for the past three decades or so in terms of who might replace it . Tim, i mean, is there a Second In Command who would easily ascend to take over or is that still to be determined know, there is a Second In Command and thats why im saying that hezbollah, what we need to think of it really is a very institutionalized both political and military organization. Its not a one Man Show even though nasrallah is the Beating Heart of hezbollah, he is just iconic for the party followers and supporters and the Axis Of Resistance and the Region Youll have multiple leaders. Even though i think most probably that suffer yet been his Second In Command, who is who comes from a similar social and political and ideological background, has similar also religious Education And Training and here has nasrallah has been really preparing suffer yet dean for this particular role for the past few years. But again, we have to wait and see to hear from hezbollah the fact that we have not heard officially from hezbollah for the past 12 hours tells me that harvey adding one survived in the four buildings that they were bombed by israel. But regardless, i think what were really, what we have seen, what we are witnessing now, its all out tool. As you know, for your viewers, we have been warning about this particular Tipping Point for the past 12 months finally, israeli Prime Minister has his wish because really in a way, netanyahu has declared war not only against hamas, but even against hezbollah. And yesterday, from the podium at the united nations, nasrallah threatened iran directly. Hes saying there is no place in iran that we cannot really reach so in a way, despite the pleas by The Americans and the french and the british and the europeans netanyahu has decided to really, he wants to have total victory not only against hamas, but against hezbollah and probably his gunning before iran is hoping that iran would retaliate, it gives them the justification to go after irans nuclear program as well last we spoke, we were talking about Israels Strategy as opportunistic Attacking Hezbollah with the level of impunity knowing that Hezbollahs Response would be constrained by not wanting to provoke All Out War with, with this, with presumably with its leader kill does that change . The calculus here is as you say, All Out War basically now at their doorstep anyway absolutely. I mean, i think that they know really real gods anymore, No Limits i think what we need to tell our viewers is to really be have clarity he israeli Prime Minister and his government have decided to have all our tool as well as no other choice. Its a matter of capabilities. Its a matter of capacity. Remember, israel has been able to erode a great deal of hezbollahs capabilities in the past couple of weeks it has killed scores of its leaders. It has neutralized and injured thousands, its rank and file. I mean, in the past, while average israel has been bombing nonstop you have a major Displacement Crisis in lebanon hospitals are overwhelmed Hundreds Of Thousands of lebanese on aram. So what you really have is now All Out War and hezbollah, i think is basically positioning itself for the long war look, im not im trying to really be critical and informative. Israel we will not be able to achieve its overarching aims in lebanon by just bombing lebanon. It cannot do it by air force. Even The Americans could not do it in afghanistan and iraq, they had to sound, they had to send boots on the ground at The End of the day, regardless of how much Damage Israel can and could do. And it has done a lot of damage. It has to launch a ground, basically invasion in order to really prevent hezbollah from bombing its towns and cities but we know very well that a ground War Israel will basically if and when israels brown will happens, it basically will fall into Hezbollahs Track because hezbollah once israel to attack militarily, because thats the only way that because what could basically inflict damage. I mean, so he is damage on israel, but i expect the next few days and next few weeks or next few months, youre going to have strategic escalation. Once hasmallah really has basically is in charge of its capabilities. Youre going to see hundreds, if not thousands, of long longterm, precise missiles fired at israeli towns and cities. So the war has not started from Hezbollahs Point of View Israel now is celebrating the damage that has inflicted on hezbollah. But remember, israel has started this War Israel can never, will never be able to finish this war on his own terms and sadly tragically, we have seen this before. Once you start a war, you dont really determine its conclusion as we have. I mean, whether youre talking about the american Invasion Of Afghanistan or iraq, or in fact now israels war in gaza awesome, really appreciate getting your analysis on this fawaz gerges. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it thanks. Thanks. All right. I want to go back to Nada Bashir In London and Nic Robertson in Tel Aviv just to update everybody on whats just happened, israel claiming that it has killed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of hezbollah. So nick, we just heard there from our expert talking about how he represented sort of the Beating Heart of hezbollah. He was he was as big as iran supreme leader. So take us through exactly what his death might mean for the group iconic, charismatic part of the fabric of Hezbollah And Beyond and its affiliates throughout the region. Absolutely a huge figure and his face looked down on the people of beirut and elsewhere in lebanon where his support was strong there were huge banners and posters of him when he spoke, everyone would tune in they would hang on. Every single word that he had to say. I was struck by What Flowers Koca said that at The End, but i think thats significant typically, when you compare to what were hearing from israeli officials right now, what far has said that was that while israel has sort of started this war they wont be able to dictate the way that it ends. They wont be able to dictate the coming steps. But this is precisely the signal. The reverse of that that, that the Army Chief of staff, the Idf Chief of staff general Herzi Halevi has giving i mentioned before that he said, this is not the only tool in our toolbox. We are preparing for the next things he says. He shot anyone that strikes israel, the people of israel, we will, we will get them back. We can reach them in the north. We can reach them in the south. We can reach them even further away hes making it very, very clear there that israel is already preparing its next steps. I mean, lets take one of our own steps back here to look at the broader Picture Israel has been preparing for this moment for almost 20 years. Hezbollah to has been preparing for a long time. So what israel is doing right now the Battle Plan that its executing the leaders that its executing. All of this has been planned, it has been formulated and the messaging right now is it doesnt stop with hand. Hassan nasrallah, that it will continue and i think we got to center that as well from from another thing that general Herzi Halevi had to say this morning after the announcement of the idf announcing if it killed Hassan Nasrallah. He said, wed been preparing for this for a long time we did it at the right time. These are his words. We are now preparing for the next thing. So when we talk about israel preparing for them what does that actually look like . What did, what does it mean . It means they figured out they believe who the top commanders or who that they should be targeting, remembering the first people that big commanders they targeted were the ones from the radwan force this sort of Elite Force that was in charge of the southern border. The most direct and imminent threat to israel coming from the southern border of lebanon into the north of israel. And they targeted them that already sort of hidden that they Command And Control structure by going after the pagers and the intercom the walkietalkies, which restricted or disrupted Hezbollahs Ability to communicate. And then after that, theyd gone after the commanders whove been in control of the drones, that commanders who were in control of the missiles, the commanders who are bidding and then control and in charge of the south so this, this plan that theyve executed has been to degrade Hezbollahs Ability in the short term to target israel what again, i go back to that question does 20 years of Preparation Look like it looks like. And wasnt is a team, a large team . That was dedicated absolutely dedicated to Finding Hezbollah targets inside of lebanon and beyond where weapons were being smuggled in, where the weapons were being stored. What intelligence assets could they could they get on the ground . Who could inform the idf about what has paula was doing this is not like operating in gaza, which is very much a sealed place where the idf really liked accurate and useful intelligence, which is why they didnt know the October 7 Huge attacks were coming in lebanon. Its a different Scenario And Entity hezbollah has ics extremely good security, extremely good vetting is extremely wary of people and an elements that they dont know and dont under stand yet over the course of 20 years, israel would have been able to generate lines of intelligence coming from disaffected individuals coming and from people who are perhaps receiving substantial amounts of money to inform on hezbollahs movements, even maybe informants within the organization of hezbollah itself why do i say that . Because that is the way that armies of work to wait around the world. Thats the way that the british government worked against the ira in northern ireland, deep, deep Intelligence Penetration and really thats part of what were witnessing here right now. So those 20 years of preparation, not just knowing where the where the missiles are stored, is knowing the movements of the commanders how to get them. So the question that will be on the mind of the hezbollah commanders who are sort of trying to restructure and regroup right now is who else is informing on them how vulnerable are they . How are they going to make sure there that they and their weapons are safe . So a very, very complex scenario has been triggered here but again, just to underscore that deep, deep level of planning and the idf saying that they have more essentially targets planned all right, sir, i really appreciate that. Nic robertson. Thank you so much. I want to go now to Hong Kong or joined by Ivan Watson so ivan you have a close connection with lebanon. You have family there. So take us through the impacts on civilians as now with the death of Hassan Nasrallah, this war threatens to tear the country apart yeah, i mean, look, its important to note that the tragic history that lebanon as a country has suffered. I mean, just in the last couple of years, if you consider that there was a massive economic crisis in 2021 which is rated as one of the worst kind of economic downturns that has been seen in a century. You had this enormous Port Blast in 2020 that shattered much of Downtown Beirut in 2019, you had failed Protest Movement to try to reform the system of government to this day, there is no president right now. There hasnt been for more than a year in lebanon the competing factions havent been able to agree on one lebanon is a country that endured years of israeli Military Occupation of syrian Military Occupation. One that ended in 2001, that it ended in 2005. And of course its own disastrous Civil War that went on for some 15 years. And you can see the scars of all of these conflicts and crises just on the sides of buildings as you travel around the country and every family has felt every family in lebanon has felt these crises and these trauma and you see it in the diaspora of lebanese people scattered around the world. And when they come home for their holidays to visit those relatives who stay in their country and the violence of the line last weekandahalf, i think has rekindled enormous trauma in enormous number of people. This is not the first time that the southern suburbs that israeli warplanes have bombed the southern suburbs of beirut. They were devastated in the 2006 monthlong war that hezbollah fought against israel, bill and now once again, there are fears that lebanon is in for yet another war with israel, a country that has battled it many times in years past. So the discussions that people are having is how to get out, how to take their children. Theyre elderly relatives to Safety News the, claims, the purported claims that nasrallah may have been killed are raising new rounds of discussions while hezbollah was hands down is hands down the most powerful political and military faction in lebanon. This is still a very polarized country. Thats divided by, by religious groups and by ideologies. He, even its detractors would argue that hezbollah had a certain level of Discipline And Reputation for for less corruption than the many other political factions in that country that said it had many enemies. Weve seen reports of people in in Opposition Controlled Parts of syria celebrating the bombardment of his Bullet Targets overnight. Because has bullet participated in the atrocious Civil War in Neighboring Syria on the side of the governing assad regime, there again stay largely sunni arab uprising all going to show that this is, this is a country in a movement with a very checkered history. And there are more questions than answers right now about what this will mean in just a week, we have seen more lebanese casualties in israels Bombing Campaign in just casualties that were witnessed in a monthlong war in 2006. And i think many people are afraid that israel is not done with bombing lebanese cities, villages, and towns all right, i appreciate that. Ivan watson. Thank you so much so we just want to give you an update on our breaking news. Israel military claims that the hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an airstrike in beirut yesterday. Now, Hezbollah Hasnt commented so far, the idf said in a statement, quote, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the hezbollah terrorist organization, and one of its founders was eliminated by the idf together with ali albuquerque, the commander of hezbollahs southern front, and additional hezbollah leaders all right. I want to bring in ha hellyer, middle east Studies Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for international peace. And he joins me now, live from athens thanks so much for being here. So just want to get off the bat. Your your take on the news, not confirmed yet by hezbollah, but certainly israel claiming that they have killed hezbollahs had what do you think i guess much for the invitation. I think youll have a lot of People Today having takes on whats happened and having predictions about whats going to happen. I suspect that any of them are going to be very wrong not because im a better analyst and they are because i think it needs to be recognized. There are lots of wildcards in this situation right now. We do not know, for example, how it on is going to respond we dont know whos going to take over from Hassan Nasrallah what we do know is that in the past, that previous leader has bought law. I wrote said most away when he was a sunday to by the israelis and the 90s, the assumption was a hezbollah has taken a fatal Blow Or Something and nasrallah turned out to be a much more dangerous leadership as butler, then most of it. So we dont know whats going to happen next. We do know that in the strike that took out nasrallah until this is verified . Yesterday, six buildings with level hundreds of lebanese were killed. The vast majority of whom would have been civilians and i think that were entering into a phase of quite reckless escalation where we dont know where the spiral is going to wind up but that the possibility for a much wider regional confrontation still remains. And i think its really important that we push as much as possible for deescalation in order to avert a catastrophe that would engulf the entirety of the region yeah, the Biden Ministration has been pushing for deescalation. Of course, but that the momentum of this war seems to be going in the entire opposite direction with this latest assassination, possibly of Hassan Nasrallah again, we stand much closer to the brink of war. Than before. Impossible to know exactly how hezbollah will respond. And certainly you mentioned iran there as well, but you have a sense of what the response would be now that perhaps they might not be constrained by the idea of trying to avoid escalation because clearly open war seems to be upon them like to clarify when it comes to the Biden Ministration they have pushed forward with the rhetoric in terms of deescalation, but they havent pushed forward with policy. The biden they ministration along with france and a multitude of other countries earlier in the week engage with the israelis in order to get a Ceasefire Proposal on the table. They then announced a Ceasefire Proposal after having consulted the israelis ahead of time, and then the netanyahu government turned around after the Ceasefire Proposal was an ounce and said no and promptly hours later than bombs. So then beiruts destroying and leveling those six buildings, which also included the apparent assassination of the Biden Ministration has not taken the steps in order to force a change in israeli behavior, which means that the israelis really have no reason to think that there would be consequences for escalation and for more reckless action. And i think that as long as that is the case we have to be extremely concerned there are no checks or balances on this even though there are tremendous amounts of leverage that the United States in particular could use in order to push forward a ceasefire. Not only in lebanon, but also in gaza, but as weve seen over the past 12 months, theyve been unwilling willing to use that leverage. This is a deliberate choice. Its not because theyve, theyve tried using all the tools in their arsenal in terms of the iranian response. Again, for iran, hezbollah is a huge card to play and i think what youve seen over the past year is that the iranians have been unwilling to escalate, pass a certain points theyve also been reckless, but not quite to the same degree and now theyve seen his bullet take a massive hits in lebanon just over the past week. And of course, with the assassination of nasrallah, its only increased the image of his butler being a much weaker organization, then was otherwise portrayed to be and i think that that creates a very difficult situation for the iranian regime that has been relying on his butler as that sort of Ace In The Hole and im not sure what they intend to now use and Use It for well leave it there, but really appreciate getting your analysis. Ha hellyer with the Carnegie Endowment for international peace. Thank you so much all right. I want to bring in cnns Jeremy Diamond, whos standing right in haifa, israel so jeremy, youre in one of the areas that has then fired upon by hezbollah. Take me through the reaction there well, theres no question that israelis are celebrating this moment today. Hassan nasrallah in his more than three decades at the helm of hezbollah was certainly responsible for the killing of many israeli civilians and soldiers. And that is the frame of mind within which his killing is being viewed here in israel. But make no mistake. This is an earthshattering moments, whether you opposed and reviled a Hassan Nasrallah or like some in lebanon, whether you supported him because of the enormous geopolitical impact that his death is going to have. The question is, how will it impact things on the ground . Theres no question that there is a real risk of things spiraling Out Of Control in the wake of Hassan Nasrallah is death but also clearly this is a moment where hezbollah, what remains of its leadership, as well as iran, which has a funded and supported and closely coordinated with hezbollah for years now, they are going to have to decide what happens next. Who takes over the helm of hezbollah and how does his killing and the bombing that left many others dead in this Beirut Strike as well how will this what will the response be from hezbollah, from iran, as well as from the other iranian proxies in the region. And that much remains uncertain at this time, we have already seen that hezbollah fired several rounds of rockets towards Northern Israel in the wake of the israeli military announcing Nasrallahs Death but certainly that is not the extent of the response that we are likely going to see from hezbollah. And perhaps also from iran. So this certainly puts us on a knifes edge in this its region and this is one of the most significant moments of this nearly yearlong conflict that we have seen roiling The Middle East the israeli military has been touting this success this morning saying that they acted with a precise intelligence that they had been planning this strike for some time, and that ultimately they chose to carry it out at what they are describing at the right time. It seems quite clear that the israeli military has been and aware for a long time now of this central Hezbollah Headquarters underneath this Dahiyeh Suburb in a beirut in the lebanese capital. And clearly this was a target of opportunity. They got the intelligence that nasrallah was in this underground compounds and they chose to carry out this strike . No less while the israeli Prime Minister himself was actually out of israel traveling in New York for the Un General Assembly. There was a photo that the israelis released of netanyahu approving that strike while he was in New York again, an enormous moment in this conflict. We dont know exactly how it will change the course of things, but there is no question at all that it will have an enormous impact. Yeah, absolutely so to follow up on that, i mean, israels Army Chief has warned that this is not The End of our toolbox. So where does Israels Campaign . Go from here . Do you think notable. First of all, that they are warning that more will come and we already saw last night in the wake of this strike on Hassan Nasrallah, that the israeli military carried out multiple airstrikes in the lebanese capital, something that once viewed as extraordinarily rare to strike within the lebanese capital over the course of this last year now, becoming a regular Occurrence And One that put the lives of many lebanese civilians living in those southern suburbs of beirut, very much at risk, these really military issuing, Evacuation Orders, but only minutes or sometimes hours later, carrying out strikes on those very locations where they told people to evacuate, certainly not much time for people to get to safety. The israeli military over the course of the last week has been saying that they are preparing for the possibility of a Ground Invasion of lebanon. When we were up a traveling near the northern border in israel yesterday, we saw field with multiple tanks its an armored personnel vehicles. The kinds of preparations that might be being made for the potential of a ground incursion. Although we dont know that enough forces have yet been brought into the northern border to actually carry that out. And certainly one thing is clear is that the israeli government has not yet decided whether or not that is the step that they want to take, whether or not they want to move forward with that. And they are simply laying that out on the table as a distinct possibility we do know though, that the israeli military in Tape Thinking out Hassan Nasrallah certainly they are going to view that as a tremendous success and its not just nasrallah, its the fact that they have taken out so much of Hezbollahs Leadership structure over the course of the last couple of weeks alone. And that is dealing eight severe blow to him its balah, which is going to have to regroup and figure out what it does next alright. Appreciate that Jeremy Diamond in haifa. Thank you so much i want to bring back Nada Bashir In London so not our were just getting word from the idf that they say they dont know how many civilians were killed in that strike on Hassan Nasrallah, but we certainly are getting the impression thats the amount of civilian casualties they would have certainly been willing to trans those given what was at stake for them. What more can you tell us . I mean, the level of civilian casualties that we have seen in the specific timeframe is significant and unprecedented in the fact that the israeli military has targeted an area that is so densely populated that is known to be so densely populated with civilians is certainly a huge point of concern and troubling regardless of the stakes for the israeli military least when the israeli military is perspective and of course this is going to have significant ramifications for lebanon civilian population. Weve already seen Hundreds Of Thousands displaced already all right. Well have to leave it there for now are we still we still have a minute to go. All right. So before we go i just want to get any more reaction that were seeing from the region to this as this news of of Hezbollahs Leader potentially being killed sort of filters through. Well, look, were still waiting to hear from hezbollah as an organization with regards to this statement from the israeli military. But of course all eyes will be waiting to see the broader regional reaction. This will have significant regional ramifications and all eyes will certainly be on iran, of course, to hear the reaction from now, weve already heard from iranian officials describing the targeting of beirut in the past few days as a Red Line, as significant escalation has some soda, not only a key figure in lebanon, but of course were broadly in the region. A crucial ally to iran. So there will be an expected response from the iranian regime. Of course, it remains to be seen this conformation for hezbollah and of course how this triggers any sort of reaction from iran and its regional proxies, whether or not we do see a reaction in terms of Military Action from iran and its proxies or whether perhaps there is restraint. But again, this is a huge blow, a significant escalation this follows the killing of a number of senior hezbollah officials and commanders, as well as hamas officials, including hamass political leader ismail haniyeh, Including Hamas Is Deputy political leader saleh al arouri, who was assassinated in beirut with this is a huge Tipping Point to significant, significant escalation. Yeah, absolutely. And for the people of lebanon been saying to again, be plunged into possibly All Out War here you can imagine how desperate they are for this not to happen. Take us through just the sense of desperation there in lebanon as this war continues to heat up this is a country that is seen war time and time again. This is a country which just in the last few years has gone through a number of crises and economic collapse, just pushed many in the country to the point of Death Patient the brink desperation. Weve seen the Port Blast in 2020. Again, significant ramifications will be civilian population across ba. 2. And now this and there have been fears for some time now of an allout war with israel. Weve of course seen that crossfire between Israel And Hezbollah along lebanon southern border, which has already pushed around 100 Thousand people out of their homes, forced them to evacuate that region. Now we are seeing even more civilians being forced to evacuate across the country. The Health Minister in lebanon telling cnn, he estimates around 400 to 500 Thousands have now been internally displaced. And it is a desperate situation. Our colleagues were on the Ground Yesterday in beirut seeing families on the streets overnight essentially escaping their apartments and homes for fear that they could then be struck next, were hearing those Evacuation Orders from the israeli military telling civilians in specific pockets they need to evacuate because they are close to, according to the israeli military, hezbollah targets. But what we are also hearing from many on the ground is that those warnings are not giving them enough time to gather their belongings together, their family members, and make it out to safety in time. So this is a hugely desperate and terrifying situation for many on the ground yeah, absolutely. All right, sir, i really appreciate that. Not about shear. Once again, our news just in israel claims that theyve killed Hezbollahs Leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Were going to have a lot more on this story, including reaction all over the region, coming up here on Cnn Newsroom, im Kim Brunhuber, pleased stay with us as our coverage continues
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